The Hunter
by jiggermole
Summary: One Shot.  Kim just isn't herself anymore and it is straining their ralationship.  Ron can't figure it out, but he will soon find out what is going on.


I don't own these characters, Disney does.

Anyway here is a small one shot, hopefully it will apese the plotbunny gods for a little while at least.

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Ron sulked along the park pathway. His KP was all sulky again and he had given her the requested time alone. That's how it's been for at least a year now. She would be happy and energetic as ever for a few weeks than suddenly she would be sad and mopey. At first he had attributed this to her time of the month, but it was never as regular as that. He new full well what that was like.

No this was something completely different, and he was a little scared for her. He had confronted her about it once and that had gone badly.

"Just what the hell is going on with you, KP?" Ron had asked, frustrated with constantly being in the dark.

Kim just stared at him for a long moment and sighed. "I don't know. Every once in a while I just feel all sad. I have to be alone and after a while I feel better."

"Is it drugs? Kim are you taking drugs or something?" Ron had asked quietly, fearfully.

Kim had turned back to him pleading. "No, its not drugs Ron. Trust me Ron. It's nothing like that. I just need to be alone and think. You do trust me right?"

Ron had responded, but only after long thought. "Of course I do, KP." And that long thought had earned him a distant and angry Kim for many days, until finally she had had her time alone and was again seeking him out.

Ron sat heavily on a bench breathing the cool night air deeply. He had never noticed this about her in the past and he was beginning to think that it may in fact have something to do with him. Maybe she was seeing someone else besides him.

Ron shook his head. Kim would not do that. "Maybe she really just needs some time alone." Ron contemplated silently to himself. After all a touch of mild depression from time to time is normal, especially for someone who saves the world on a regular basis, right?

Slowly the sound of heavy breathing and thudding footsteps intruded on his thoughts. From the darkness that surrounded the lone lamp Ron was sitting under a young man exploded inward. He stumbled and regained his footing. Ron surged to his feet, ready for anything. The man approached and clutched at Ron, breathing heavily.

"Help! You must help. She's coming. She's after me. I don't know why. Please help me!" The man almost shouted at him.

Ron stared in fear at the man and was about to reply when two small ghostly pale hands emerged and encircled the man's throat from behind. The man's eyes went wide with fear and before his hands could leave Ron's shirt to clutch at the hands, they squeezed sharply. There was an audible crack and the man started to gasp.

He went to his knees before Ron. The female form that was standing behind him gently settled him to the ground and cradled him in her lap. She spoke to him in whispered tones. "Shhh. Shhh. Good boy. That's a good boy. You did so well." The tones were soft, as a mother congratulating a child. Ron recognized the voice as well as the hair and was paralyzed with fear and incredulity. "You ran so fast and in the dark no less." She seemed to stifle a sob as she stroked the man's face. She bent down and kissed his forehead. "I'm so proud of you. You saw the obstacles so well in the dark. Just sleep now, baby. Let yourself rest, you've ran so far and fast. It's time to rest now."

The man was clutching for breath as his lungs filled with his own blood due to the cracked trachea. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks as he clutched at the young woman's clothing. Her voice continued choked with emotion. "Baby, just let yourself rest. You must be so tired. Shhh. Quiet now." She clutched the man's face to her breast and Ron could see the tracks of tears down her recognizable face. "That's a good boy. Just let it go." She clutched tighter as the body was racked with spasms. "Your eyes were so good, poor baby. You won't die. You won't ever die." The spasms stopped.

The woman he knew so well, but refused to believe the identity, laid the man down on the path, and did something to the man. She turned holding up the glistening eyes of the young man, dangling by the optic nerve. Daintily she popped one into her mouth and squeezed chewing the eye lazily, enjoying the flavor in almost ecstatic joy. She swallowed and did the same for the second one but some of the juice left her mouth like a cherry tomato's, and the juice struck him.

The small giggle from Kim and the horror of the scene he had witnessed broke him of his paralysis, and he screamed. Kim knelt there on the path smiling as she chewed the remaining eye. Absently she wiped tears from her face and waited for him to stop. Once he did she stood and looked directly at him. "What's the matter, Ron? I thought you wanted to know why I needed to be alone."

Ron couldn't help but stare at the body. The eye sockets were bare and a thin trickle of blood left his mouth. Kim stepped between him and the body. "I can't believe this."

He was enveloped by Kim's strong and feminine arms. "This is me. Ron, you can't imagine the joy I get from the hunt. Sure I'm sad when they have to die, but they never truly die. I have to eat part of them and if they're part of me they never die, and and their strength becomes my strength." Kim released him from her hug and smiled broadly. "Can't you see Ron? I am so strong now, nothing can stop me."

Ron just stared at her in horror with his mouth agape. Violently he pushed her away. "I don't even know you anymore. This is not my KP. She would be vomiting in horror at what you've done."

Kim pushed herself up from the ground. "It's me Ron. I've never changed; it's just that I've never known the joy of the hunt. Sure I got a small bit from going after the super villains, but after I had to chase Monkey Fist through that jungle. I tracked him for four days and it was the greatest four days of my life. I couldn't stop. I didn't kill Monkey Fist, he was catch and release, but later. I hunted like a hunter and that feeling of taking a life, was was…" Her voice trailed off in joyful memory. Finally her gaze returned to Ron and she sighed deeply. "It was the most wonderful feeling in the world. So much better than any drug man can make."

Ron took a step back. "You're sick."

Kim stepped closer and finally Ron could see the madness in her eyes. "No, Ron. I have never felt more alive. Every fiber of my being is alive."

"You need help."

Her smile faded. "No one can help me because no one can feel what I feel."

"You should be in jail. How many people have you murdered?"

Her smile was gone now, replaced with a hard scowl. "You mean how many prey have I hunted?" The words were cold. "You can never understand the feeling that comes at the cost of another human life. The power you get from devouring their flesh."

Ron reached for his cell phone. "I'm calling the police. You need help. I will be with you, KP, but you have to pay for what you've done."

The phone was snatched from his fingers so fast he barely saw it. "No, Ron. You are so loving and caring. That's what I love about you, but you can not take this away from me. Your heart is so big, I can only imagine the power I would gain from it, and we would never, ever be separated again."

Ron looked at her, and for the first time he felt fear. "Kim? What are you saying?"

The madness returned to her eyes as tears fell from them. "Run, Ron. I'm saying you should run very fast."

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So what do you think? This was a weird story inspired by a convo between me and Windlessuser. And may he burn in hell for the damn plotbunnies that have invaded my brain and DEMANDED this be written.

Anyway R/R please. An artist that does not expect flames as well as praise is an idiot.


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